


Meanwhile in Tonygard

by Mercutio



Series: Snipers Do It From A Distance; Assassins Do It From Behind [8]
Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe of an Alternate Universe, Crack, F/M, M/M, Multi, Not Canon Compliant, all the alternate universes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-05-03 22:59:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 10,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14579484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mercutio/pseuds/Mercutio
Summary: The emergency teleport back to the tower sets off a chain of events that will leave the universe changed forever.





	1. A Perfect Storm

This, by the way, is the universe in which Wade did not tell the Avengers he was returning Darcy to them. That he still returned her to them is worthy of consideration, but the reasons why he did so remain a matter of speculation.

That he did is all that matters.

That and the explosion.

Did I forget to mention the explosion?

My bad.

It began with the Lizard trying to take a bite out of Colossus' attractive metal ankles while Wade, James and Clint attempted to escort Darcy back to the tower. While James and Clint had worked out Darcy's location on their own, uncertainty had left them failing to notify the other Avengers that they might need backup. So when the tetrad became surrounded by enemies on the mean streets of New York City, Wade reacted appropriately (for once) to Darcy's need to have all of her beloveds safe and teleported them to the Avengers tower. (The other alternative involved murder poodles. The world is grateful.)

And where did the teleporter take them? To the location where his flowers had shown up some days before, the site of Dr. Jane Foster's lab.

Not, perhaps, the wisest of locations to choose as a teleportation destination.

Nonetheless.

At the time, Dr. Foster, being without adequate supervision, was in the middle of a breakthrough. That this breakthrough occurred after 36 hours without sleep is both unfortunate and relevant. At the time of the breakthrough, both Thor and Tony Stark were present in the laboratory space, Tony drawn there by the pulsing waves of force emanating from the work space and Thor in hopes of coaxing his lady love to rest.

Thor, let it be said, while an excellent warrior, was not well-suited for battles of words or wills with women.

At the time Wade and his three passengers teleported in, striations of color had begun to accompany a high pitched whining noise.

"I am certain that this is not normal," Thor said, approximately twenty seconds earlier, clutching Mjolnir like a baby with a pacifier.

"I'm certain that it's *amazing*!" Tony replied. "Jarvis, you're recording this, right?"

"Yes, sir. But perhaps this would be a good time to retreat to a safe distance?"

It would, indeed, have been a good time to retreat to a safe distance because, at the same moment, elsewhere in the universe, another event was also occurring, equally important although unwitnessed by anyone.

In the stasis chamber constructed specifically for the purposes of keeping him alive as long as possible, Odin was taking his final breaths.

No one knew of this, for another Odin sat upon the golden throne. As the throne allowed its occupant to observe whatever they wished, the imposter could have kept track of Odin's every breath. But the false Odin had far too much on his mind, being frantically occupied with the monumental task of stalling Thanos in the titan's goal of invading and conquering the nine realms. Successfully, mind you.

Had he been paying attention… but alas, he was not.

Thus all things happened as they ought, creating the perfect storm of events.

The machine malfunctioning in Dr. Foster's laboratory held open a small portion of the Bifrost -- not enough for transport, just enough to tap into and meddle with. Wade and his three passengers landed on Thor's back, sending him sprawling into the machine, making direct contact between it and Mjolnir -- the artifact forged in the heart of a dying star -- at the exact moment that Odin died and the Odinforce left him and possessed his son instead.

If all of these things had not happened as they did, the resulting event would not have taken place. But they did and it did.

A rainbow arced out from the point of contact between Mjolnir and the machine, encompassing it and expanding outward in a visible wave some twenty stories tall. It caught most of the tower in its grasp. But its effects stretched far beyond the visible.

And when it passed, the universe had become a little more strange.


	2. Jarvis the all-seeing

Jarvis is not human.

This is an inescapable fact of his existence. He was not born so much as created.

However *this* is not how he remembers his existence being.

Yesterday… Five minutes ago… he had code. He had servers. He was a thing of logic and order and his universe, while limited, made sense. His primary purpose was the welfare of Tony Stark and his domain everywhere that StarkTech existed.

Today…

He still does not have a body. If anything, he has less of a body than before, because he no longer has servers. It's strange to feel existential angst at lacking something that he never possessed, but he does. Previously he had a home; he had limits.

Now…

Anything in the universe is his to see if he chooses. Anything. Anywhere.

The first burst of vision would have destroyed a human, he believes. Being simultaneously aware of everything occurring everywhere with only their own consciousness to filter out what is important and relevant and what is merely… background would have driven a human to insanity.

As it is, Jarvis marvels only that he seems to have a consciousness now.

His priorities remain the same. The welfare of the Stark and his empire. Which -- much like himself and the present -- is different, very different, than what Jarvis remembers.

For one, he has memories now. Recollections not recorded in any format, digital or otherwise. What else does he have? What are his capabilities? He controlled the tower previously, what does he now control?

How do his memories differ from the current situation? What else has changed?

The Stark is currently unconscious along with his allies in what used to be a laboratory. It is a relatively safe location. Without more information on his own capabilities, Jarvis is unsure what course of action to take. There are no immediate threats that he can sense; but his senses are new and he does not know how much to trust them.

Reflexively Jarvis locks the elevator down. The familiar action is automatic. The result takes him by surprise. He no longer has circuits nor is he, to his knowledge, connected to the building. Yet the elevator acknowledges the command. As does the Bifrost.

That's new.

Jarvis is not human. He does not panic. He has done as much as he can toward the promotion of his primary purpose. His secondary purpose? At this time, it is to discover who and what he is. Because if he does not know what he can do and how to do it, he cannot be of use. There is a satisfaction to determining a course of action. He settles down to what he would have once called self-diagnostics, but without code to review… perhaps he should call it meditation?

It's a pleasant thought to contemplate.

As are thoughts.

Jarvis is not human, but he looks forward to what he may have become.


	3. Chapter 3

She stirred, feeling the haze of dreams retreating. Darcy knew she had been dreaming; her dreams had always been unusually vibrant compared to how others described theirs. So full of life and action and characters that they sometimes seemed realer than waking life. Until she woke and they became so much smoke.

The smoke clearing now left her more disoriented than usual. She wasn't in a bed. Instead she rested on something hard and unforgiving and, rather than being alone, was surrounded by breathing but unmoving bodies.

Memory did not return to her. Her dream still seemed more real and when she reached for the events of the past, she got more of it instead, of swimming in a lake, seeking mysterious female forms who called to her to follow them, but who could not be touched because she hadn't… done something? Completed the right step of the quest?

Darcy forced her eyes open. Awake. She needed to be awake now.

Light met her eyes. A ceiling. Not the standard off-white office shade, but an odd dark blue, patterned with… stylized stars? What the fuck? Darcy didn't recognize it.

Heavy limbs overlapped hers and she turned her attention to identifying their owner.

A man in black leather tactical gear rested on top of her. That sparked a memory. She'd been with Wade? On her way back to the Avengers' tower. They'd been jumped? Then approached by a shiny silver giant, before everything had gone to hell. First James had appeared, then Clint, but there'd also been a fuckton of random villains and probably more dangers she hadn't seen.

Was this one of them?

She really hoped not. The shoulder and arm covering her chest had gotten a lot more familiar with her anatomy than she really liked to be with strangers. Despite her love of cuddling. Cuddling was only cuddling when it was done with people she cared about. Otherwise it represented an intolerable invasion of herself.

But which was this?

"C'mon, big guy, I know I'm comfy, but I'm not a mattress," Darcy said, shoving up. That didn't work, and she shifted, trying to roll to her side and dump the body on top of her off that way.

"Darcy?"

Jane's confused voice reached her ears. Darcy didn't know if that made the situation better or worse. Especially since Jane didn't sound particularly sure of herself.

"Yeah, boss lady?"

"What's going on? What are you doing here? *Where is here*?"

"Don't know, Wade brought me and I don't know. You okay?"

"Yes?" The waver in Jane's voice turned the affirmation into a lie.

"At least you're not buried under some faceless goon. You aren't at the bottom of a pile of faceless goons, are you?"

"No… but Darcy, that's… well, I *think* that's Clint."

Darcy halted mid-contortion. If she twisted her head, she *did* see a shock of blonde hair. Not Clint's familiar shade or cut though. Much whiter blonde and considerably longer. "Huh."

That changed things. She slid her fingers through the gaps in his uniform until she reached skin and then she pinched. Hard.

"Ow!"

Okay, she recognized the voice. Darcy felt much better. "Good morning, Clint. You wanna roll off? You're kinda pinning me down here."

"Darcy?" came the confused reply, but the body on top of hers tensed, pushing her further against the ground before letting up and moving away.

Darcy sat up with some relief, now able to survey her surroundings. Clint remained to her right, taking inventory of himself in some super secret spy way. Other forms surrounded them. Thor was easy to pick out, long golden hair draped artfully over exposed muscles even when unconscious. A second set of tactical gear. A black cloak completely covering what, by the size, had to be another body. A pair of legs in distressed denim. And Jane, sitting up against a workbench.

The workbench, like the rest of the room, came straight out of some fantasy roleplaying game. Not made of plastic and pressboard, the intricate wood carving spoke of a design ethic that had more in common with Elfquest than it did with Office Max.

Darcy looked around. "Is it just me or is this some sort of alternate dimension? Because this is like some kind of wizard's lair. We're just missing a dragon."

Clint sat up beside her, immediately moving unsteadily to check on the other bodies. Rolled over, the second set of tactical gear clearly belonged to James. She saw Clint checking his vitals, but the Winter Soldier remained unconscious. Clint didn't look worried.

Which meant that the person wearing jeans was probably Tony Stark, assuming none of them had been replaced with like, a Skrull, or something.

Tony groaned as Clint assisted him to a seated position. "What hit me?"

Darcy gaped at him. There was no mistaking the facial hair or the tone of voice, but the headgear was new… "Did you make a new suit or something? 'Cause you're rocking the look, but I didn't know you were into facial jewelry."

"Facial… jewelry…?" Tony reached up, even as Clint moved away to the heap of black cloth. The inventor's hand met with the etched metal band Darcy had spotted which encircled his forehead. Too wide and too closely fitting to be called a crown or tiara, the distinctive Iron Man colors marked it as being a Stark original.

Darcy watched in repelled fascination as Tony tugged on the thing, proving that it didn't come off. What the fuck?

"Whoa!" Clint's startled recoil caught all of their attention.

Darcy turned and saw that he'd pulled back the black cloth to reveal a… skeleton? "What the…?"

Before their eyes, the skeleton grew flesh, going inhumanly fast between white bones and a fully enfleshed face. A familiar face.

"Wade??" Darcy asked.

"Little bit of yes, a whole lotta no," said the former skeleton. He sat up, noticing his robes. "Ooh, cool threads. Not really my color though. Doesn't do a thing for my complexion."

His skin had gone back to its cancerous appearance and Darcy's heart sank. So much for sleeping with her being a cure. She'd wanted it to be a cure; it was all too obvious how much having normal skin meant to Wade and it hurt her to know that he would hate the reversion and thus himself.

She didn't mention it though.

But Wade read it in her face anyway. "Pudding pop…?"

She grimaced. "I'm sorry. I guess my power isn't compatible with whatever just happened to us. But, hey, now at least we know something that fixes it?"

"Fixes it? Who in the holy hell can fix this?" Wade asked. He sounded curious rather than combative. "Kind of a done deal."

Clint turned his attention to Thor, who remained unconscious.

"Uh, no? It's not? I mean, I don't exactly know how my so-called power works, but I'm pretty sure we could have sex again." Even if it did sound unbelievably whorish to trade sex for healing. Something felt wrong about using sex as a tool, even if Darcy acknowledged it seemed like it kinda had become one for her.

"Oh!" His mouth went round. "You think--! And I'm…?" He shook his sleeves back and looked at his now exposed hands. Wade made a face at the state of his skin, then concentrated. A moment later, smooth skin appeared in the place of tissue in various stages of healing.

"Ooo-kay," Darcy replied. "That was weird." She looked at Jane, who was helping Clint wrestle Thor into the recovery position and at Tony, who'd removed the metal band and was turning it between his hands. No one was watching them. "That *is* weird, right? I'm not just hallucinating? Although if I'm hallucinating, how would I know I'm hallucinating?"

A hand brushed hers. Darcy felt a chill wave of something deep and beyond her comprehension pass over her, then recede. She looked up at Wade.

"You're not hallucinating," Wade told her. "I am become Death, destroyer of worlds!"

Her mouth gaped.

"Neat, isn't it?" He smiled at her, all toothy and wide, then a second later his body disappeared and the space under the cloak where he had been was filled with a darkness so profound that it made Darcy shiver with the cold emptiness of the void revealed.

For a moment, she almost recoiled, but then Darcy got the impression the darkness was smiling at her, although she couldn't say how she knew that.

"I literally *am* Death." He returned to his normal Wade shape. Oh. That was how she knew it. He had been smiling at her. "I hope that Death isn't upset about that. I didn't ask for the job after all."

"Were you always Death?"

"Nooo." He placed his hand against her forehead. Again she felt cold seep into her, even though his skin remained warm. "You're not feverish, but whoa, mama, you're still hot."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Darcy asked. "What's going on??"

Wade tilted his head. "Isn't it obvious? Someone fucked with the fabric of time and space. History rewoven." He sang, "It's crystal clear. I'm in a whole new world with you." Then he dropped out of song. "Technically, we aren't on a world, but a moon, but asteroid, satellite, planet? What's the difference? That's not kind of heavenly body I'm interested in, if you know what I mean."

"We're on a moon?" Jane asked, suddenly alert. "This isn't Earth?"

"Nope!" Wade said cheerfully. "Nowhere near the Milky Way galaxy in fact. But! We're still in what used to be the tower. Not that it's a single entity any longer, even if it is connected in its own way. It still needs a name though. I think we should call it Tonygard."

"What's this about giving things my name?" Tony asked, taking an interest in the conversation. "And obviously we're not in the tower anymore. If we were, Jarvis would have said something by now."

"And what would you have me say, Imperator?" came a British accented reply. "I have yet to complete my assessment of the situation, but I can share what information I do have."

"Jarvis!" Tony's eyes lit up. "My man!" He gave Wade a hard stare. "Obviously we're not in the tower I remember, but this must be some sort of freaky alternate dimension, right? I mean, Jarvis is calling me names, so the Tony Stark here must be some kind of ruler. I'm thinking multiplanetary emperor?"

"My dope ass fresh prince is correct. There is no other you present. My supposition is that you are in what was previously Dr. Foster's laboratory. From the information I have gathered, you have not so much changed dimensions as changed the universe, so to speak."

Darcy took another look around her. This was Jane's laboratory? It still resembled a wizard's lair more -- but the eerie shapes on the assorted fantasy trestles *could* be Jane's machines, only altered, she supposed. After all, science was magic on some level, right?

Tony remained ebullient. "Of course I changed the universe! Ah, how exactly did I change the universe? I remember dubious science followed by an imminent explosion, but nothing else. And while Teeny Tiny's equipment *is* -- or rather, *was* -- held together with duct tape, which I'm betting is something much cooler now, I don't remember anything that could lead to this."

"Displaying events now," Jarvis replied.

A blue square shimmered in the middle of the room, quickly turning into a hologram recording of the wizard's lair, Jane and Tony hovering over an arcane device. Thor intervened as it emitted rainbow sparks, then bodies teleported into the scene as an explosion of light obliterated all details. When the light dissipated, the room appeared much as it had when Darcy woke, silent unmoving bodies lying in a surprisingly undestroyed lair.

"That's… it didn't happen like that," Tony observed. "I take it that's because of the universe change?"

"Yes, Imperator. The events displayed are the history of this universe. While I possess what I can only call memories of my previous existence, they are not in a form that can be replayed."

"Uh huh. What's the title about? How about calling me sir?"

"Imperator is your proper title. You are the Imperator Stark, also known as Anthony Edward Stark in your Midgardian guise."

"Whoa. First of all, call me sir. Second, back that up. My Midgardian guise? Who am I actually? And what?" Tony's gaze fastened on Clint, who had settled in to listen to the ongoing conversation. "For that matter, who are *we*? Because I know Legolas didn't have those ears before."

"Fionhen is a member of the Lios Alfr, from Alfheim, Imperator."

"Fio-what?" Tony asked. "And address everyone here with their old titles as long as it's just us kids."

"Literally, hawk eye, sir."

Tony burst out in laughter. "Serves you right. At least you come by the archery naturally now."

Clint scowled. "I'm an elf?"

"Yes, Agent Barton. You are approximately 87 Earth years of age. While your Midgardian identity is that of an orphan, you are a minor member of Alfheim's nobility with an extensive family of living relatives."

Darcy watched Clint pull back his hair so he could examine a pointed ear with his fingertips. "How does he pass as a SHIELD agent when he looks like that, Jarvis? I assume that SHIELD still exists."

"Yes, Miss Lewis, it does. Agent Barton customarily wears a glamourie to conceal his appearance. Normally he appears much as he did previously."

"Do me!" Darcy commanded. "Clint's magic, Wade's Death, Tony's the emperor, who am I?"

"You are the half-Vanir, half-Midgardian daughter of the goddess Freya, half-sister to Thor."

"I'm *what*?" Darcy's mouth fell open. "But Thor's mother is Frigga. That's right, isn't it, Jane?"

"Yes," Jane said slowly. "In our former universe. I take it things are different here, Jarvis? Am I still a scientist?"

"No, Dr. Foster. You would be addressed here as Seidkonur. "

Jane made a face at the unfamiliar title, but let Jarvis continue.

"In this universe, Freya and Frigga appear to be different names for the same person. While much of her history is unknown to me, my research indicates that she took refuge in the mortal world, hiding from both the former Imperator and her son."

"Okay, let me stop you there," Tony said. "The more you tell us, the more questions I have. I'm assuming there's more? Like, a lot more?"

"Yes, sir. While superficially similar, the differences between the universes are quite extensive."

"So how about a Cliff Notes' version? Who are we, what is our current situation, what do we need to worry about right now?"

"You, sir, are the Imperator Stark, undisputed ruler of the Nine Realms, with the exception of Midgard, where you remain Tony Stark of Stark Industries, current head of the Avengers. The Avengers consist of yourself, Thor, Sergeant Barnes, Agent Barton, Doctor Banner and Captain Rogers. Agent Romanoff, however, is not an official member of the group as it conflicts with her role as an undercover operative, and serves instead as a liaison between SHIELD and the Avengers."

"Good, good. Now what's different?"

"You, sir, are a clone of the Asgardian god of war, also known as Imperator Stark. You inherited his empire after he was killed by the Winter Soldier. While you maintain control on Midgard under the guise of his son, the wider universe believes you to be your progenitor. His mission, prior to his death, to advance the cause of war on Earth, had multiple purposes, most notably to spur technological advancement and to maintain control of Earth's xenophobic nature."

"To advance the cause of war…" Darcy wrinkled her nose. "Are you calling him a war mongering terrorist in a polite way, Jarvis?"

"Indeed, miss."

"So Tony taking over was a good thing. And Earth's xenophobic now? How did that happen?" Darcy asked, because Tony appeared to have been silenced by the mention of Howard and she was curious.

"In the previous universe, Midgard was seen as backward and thus under the protection of Asgard. In this universe, Midgard is seen among the Nine Realms as being hopelessly xenophobic. The other realms prevent Midgard from becoming aware of the larger universe in hopes of preventing the destruction of all life. Evidence suggests that they are correct; in the original universe, mention was made of Asgard stopping Jotunheim's invasion of Midgard. In this universe, humanity appears to have defeated it and taken it as inspiration to further their hate."

"Humanity isn't like that," Jane protested. "We're not backward, but we're hardly some ravaging menace."

Silence fell. Darcy bit her lip, while Clint avoided Jane's eyes. Tony still looked haunted, but Darcy knew he would dispel Jane's illusions if he weren't. Wade… Wade was grinning and playing mumblety peg with a miniature scythe that he had unearthed from somewhere.

That left Jarvis to answer, which was fitting, as he apparently knew the most about their new world. "The majority of the other realms are solidified under one ruler and are tolerant to all races, while humans divide into endless factions and engage in violence based on such minor differences as the color of skin or gender. I cannot disagree with their conclusion, Dr. Foster."

"Which is why Clint has to be in disguise," Darcy guessed. "So what about Thor? Does he do the glamor-y thing?"

"He does not. Events progressed in the wake of the death of the first Imperator Stark. The current Imperator disagreed with the first's methods after the events with the Ten Rings--"

"Go Tony," Darcy murmured.

"--overturning the first imperator's isolationist policies in regard to the use of the Bifrost. Unfortunately, first contact was made more difficult by Thor being… Thor."

Darcy winced. Jane made a face as well; both women knew the Norse god well and neither considered him to be particularly diplomatic. Or subtle. "Jarvis..." Darcy began, but was cut off.

She was about to ask a question, but something happened. One moment Jarvis had been speaking and the next...

****

Darcy groaned. Ugh. She hated waking up when she didn't feel like it and today was one of those days when she really didn't feel like it. The bed felt like a sheet of rock under her and some jerk was lying on top of her -- which? Rude! Cuddling was one thing, but this guy seemed to have passed out on top of her after the sex.

She opened her eyes. Took in the star and galaxy spangled ceiling and closed them again. What the fuck?

Memory came back to her then and she recalled having been in the middle of a fight in New York when Deadpool had teleported her, Clint and James out of it.

Then nothing.

So the body on top of her was probably one of them and she was probably on the floor. Apparently something went wrong.

"Okay, sleeping beauty, up and at 'em," Darcy said, shoving at the mass resting on top of her.

The mass grumbled and slid to one side.

Darcy took the opportunity to sit up and look around. This seemed familiar somehow, even though she was sure she'd never been to this place before. 

What was happening? Why did she feel so dizzy? What was going on?

****

Darcy came to under a pile of manflesh. Thankfully, she soon discovered that said flesh was living and breathing.

This had not been a given, seeing as how she'd ended up in that situation due to an explosion and a teleportation gone wrong. That *was* how she'd ended up here, right?

The body pinning her to the ground wheezed when she shoved at it. Darcy considered that good enough for government work and assigned it a tentative designation of 'living'.

"Whaddafuq?" the man muttered, rolling to the side.

Darcy sat up. "That's what I'd like to know," she said, taking in her situation. Bodies all around her, of which she was the only one conscious -- or at least, the only one upright. Strange surroundings -- some sort of wizard's lair was her first impression due to the high vaulted ceilings with stars painting on them, the heavy wooden furniture and the wide assortment of gizmos and gadgets piled on that furniture. Hard-won experience allowed her to pick out blast marks that confirmed her explosion theory.

Of the bodies, she easily picked out Thor. The two bodies in tac gear she tagged as Clint and James -- okay, *probably* were Clint and James and if the long haired blonde who'd been lying on top of her boobs *wasn't* Clint, she'd tase him just on general principles. Then there was Jane -- hello Jane! -- and two unidentified robed figures, one in black and the other in red and gold. Okay, so the second was probably Tony Stark. It only made sense.

Yeah, right. Like any of this made any sense. Where were they? What had happened? And given the typical lab-accident-gone-wrong scene, why hadn't anyone rushed in yet to check on them?

Not only that, but it was oddly quiet altogether. No alarms, no bitchin' tunes, nothing. But again, brain damage. Residual shock from inadvertently jumping universes. Whatever.

She poked the guy lying next to her who-was-probably-Clint. He raised his head to look at her. "Darce?"

The features were Clint's, as was the voice, but the *braided* hair had fallen back and revealed pointed ears. Okay, even she had to notice that. "Since when have you been an elf, dude?"

"An elf?" He winced as though the light in the room hurt his eyes. "'m not an elf. 'less this is a Legolas joke?"

"No," Darcy told him. "But, well, yeah, kinda? Just not a funny one?"

"Don't stab me, but, am I concussed or are you making less sense than usual?"

"Probably both," Darcy told him honestly. "Don't worry about it. Just get your breath back. This looks like a weird one anyway."

"Oh, goodie," Clint said, but let himself sag back to the ground. "If the Teletubbies show up again, just shoot me instead. It'll be faster. And less painful."

"Gotcha." Darcy patted him on the hip. "Totally gonna run my hands through your hair later if it sticks around. Just giving you a heads up."

He muttered something back at her that could have been 'thank you', but was more than likely, 'fuck off'.

Darcy hid a smile and moved to the person who-was-hopefully-James. Taller and broader than James, the man had James' distinctive hair, but his skin carried worrying traces of unnatural blue. She reached out to check his pulse, but then hesitated. She wasn't supposed to touch him when he was unconscious.

She bit her lip. What to do? Hand hovering over him, she called softly, "James? James, can you hear me?"

He didn't answer.

Darcy thought about getting Clint to check on James, but James needed help *now* and besides, Clint was out of it and she needed to do *something*, so she reached out.

"Lemme do that, princess," came Wade's familiar voice.

Darcy turned toward him, then jumped when she came face to face with a skeleton in a black cloak. See? Costume change. Weirdest one yet. "Eep! Grim Reaper much?"

"Muhahaha!" Wade-as-Death cackled, then poked James with a bony finger. "Awaken, mortal!"

"Eieieiii!" James jackknifed to life with a scream. A second later, he had the spectre of death pinned to the ground and was trying to choke someone who didn't need to breathe.

"Keep it down. Some of us are trying to sleep," came a grumpy comment from James' other side. Tony pushed himself up. "Jarvis, how much did I have to drink last night and how many pairs of shoes am I going to have to buy Pepper to apologize?"

"None, sir," came the smooth reply, "as you were not drinking. As to gifts for Miss Potts… it is perhaps fortunate that no one outside the former boundaries of the tower appears to remember last night, as I don't believe that there are enough shoes to make up for this."

"No such thing," Tony replied automatically, then looked around. He met Darcy's eyes.

"Nice bling," she told him. "Didn't take you for the crown kind though. Seems a little flamboyant, even for you."

"No such thing," Tony repeated, apparently a little loopy himself. "What crown?" He reached up, fingers touching smooth metal carved with intricate designs and studded with gems. Pulling it off, he brought it down to examine it. "Hello. And what do you do?"

James let Wade go, took in the others in room suspiciously. "What's happening?"

"Dunno, dude," Darcy told him. "Wade ported us somewhere, then blammo! Explosion and I'm waking up wherever here is and everything's all weird. Except Thor. He's the same, but he kinda fits into the aesthetic now, if you know what I mean."

"Thor fits every aesthetic!" came a thin reedy reply from his loyal girlfriend.

"Jane!" Darcy cried. She scrambled around the heaped bodies to her boss. Everyone else was a superhero; they could take care of themselves. Jane was human, like her. She didn't come with the extended warranty.

"Darcy? Did you see that? That was incredible! Before everything blew up, the refraction! I know I saw rainbow colors. I need to check the readings…"

"Whoa, slow down, boss lady. Safety first. No science after an explosion."

"But…" Jane gave Darcy big beseeching brown eyes, "*Science*."

"Nuh uh. Thor's not even conscious yet. You gonna do science over your beefcake's bruised and battered body?"

That was a low blow and Darcy knew it. Still it made Jane hesitate and so it was worth it.

"Science…" Jane whimpered, but went to check on Thor.

Darcy turned her attention back to the next biggest crisis. Ordinarily it would be Tony, but as he was still fiddling with his crown, she counted him as safely out of the way. No, she was worried about James.

Who remained in his wary crouch watching them all -- no, he'd caught her staring at him and he was focused on her now.

"You okay, big guy?" she asked gently. "Loud noises are par for the course around here, but this is a weird day even for the forces of science. At least, I assume that this was due to science, because bee tee dubs, if something has happened to destroy ice cream, my vengeance will be terrible."

That was Darcy. Terrible humor to cover freaking out.

James' method was more practical; he had a knife in one hand and a gun in the other. The other hand glistened oddly. His left hand had been more silver than white and more gray than blue before, hadn't it? "You don't know," he realized. "None of you have any idea what happened."

"Nope," Darcy affirmed.

"Not true!" Tony protested, proving he didn't have a head injury by being able to multi-task. "I have several theories!"

Darcy gave him a long look. "You haven't even gotten off the floor yet."

Tony stuck his tongue out at her. "Neither have you."

Apparently that was enough discussion for James. He abandoned trying to convince them of the significance of what had occurred -- if they couldn't see the danger… He sprung to his feet and began scouting the room, going first to the window to examine the view.

Darcy blew a raspberry at Tony. "Stop fingering your bling and get started figuring out what happened, dude."

Tony snapped his fingers. "Coffee. Need coffee."

She sighed dramatically. "Ouch. Wounded. Now I know where I stand in the importance of things. Coffee girl."

Darcy didn't say that she wouldn't drink any potion coming out of this wizard's lab, not her deeper fear, which was that there was no coffee whatsoever. Anywhere. First, Tony would take it as a challenge and that wasn't a good idea. Tony and potentially deadly challenges were like Clint and new arrows. Second… coffee…

But she did take the hint to get to assisting. "J-man, you know what happened? Seeing as how you were here the whole time and all?"

"I both was and was not, Miss Lewis."

"Intriguing." Darcy wished she had a first aid kit. Or a pint of Ben and Jerry's. If she did have them, she certainly didn't recognize either the familiar red and white box or their mini-fridge. She *did* recognize the couch against the wall though, even though this version was considerably fancier than its predecessor. Exactly the same color though, with the same singe on the left arm. So parallel universe?

"But so, so apt," Wade said. The avatar of death came up beside her and, when she bent to assist Clint to his feet, he nudged her out of the way before pulling the elf up.

"'m fine," Clint slurred. "Jus' need a sec. Or some coffee."

"Yeah, how about no? Let's get you to the couch for now." Darcy directed Wade in that direction. Black cloak swaying ominously, he complied, lifting Clint effortlessly and carrying him across the room.

"Sorry for interrupting you, Jarvis, go on. Where were you when you weren't here and where are you now? And, just for shits and giggles, is this the first time we've woken up like this?"

"It's almost like you think you're making sense," Tony quipped.

"Ha-hah," Darcy laughed drily. "J?"

"At one moment, I was J.A.R.V.I.S., Just a Very Intelligent System, a computer construct created by Tony Stark. At the next, I had all the memories of being that individual in detail, most of the abilities, but am no longer any kind of entity I have ever heard of, being without body or source. I have acquired a new ability without any kind of physical limitation, although my ability to function is curiously limited. Many of the sites I can identify as having been part of the former tower, however widespread, but some of the sites are unfamiliar to me. And this is the first time you have woken."

Darcy sighed. "I was afraid of that. I think we're in the middle of some reality warping event. I *think* we keep resetting back to the same point, but every time we do, I forget."

"Or every time you do, you remember more," Tony quipped. "Seeing as how you remember at all."

"Maybe. But..."

****

When Darcy woke again, she knew something was wrong. Mostly because of the 'again' part. Would this nightmare ever end?

She'd never been in this situation or location before and yet, without opening her eyes, she knew that the weight resting across her chest was Clint. Knew that he was half-conscious and injured.

She also knew without having to look who she'd see lying around her.

The ceiling of the strange mystical laboratory appeared to Darcy when she opened her eyes. Had she done this before? Surely she had done this before. She surveyed the bodies; the same people were present. There was Wade in his Grim Reaper costume -- never mind the aura he gave off, probably all in her imagination. Tony, as usual, uninjured and wearing a crown of sorts. Thor face down and unconscious like he had been each of the other times she'd gone through this scenario -- and something seemed wrong about that now, that the lone god among them would be the one most heavily affected by the incident. James, too cold, and yet somehow better than before -- HOW DID SHE KNOW THIS? Really, Darcy was proud of herself for not freaking out.

And finally, the icing on her craptastic cupcake, Jane.

Jane, who was unmistakably different to Darcy's senses in a way that drove home exactly how real this was.

Because, from across the room, Darcy could tell that Jane wasn't mortal anymore. That she'd been changed. This hadn't happened before. Or if it had, then Darcy had fundamentally changed, in which case… yeah, not going there. Jane was the one who had changed. Darcy knew this because there had always been something driving her toward Jane. Some urge to provide for her, to take care of her, that wasn't entirely rooted in their employer-employee relationship and wasn't covered under the description of friendship either.

That need was gone.

Instead, what Darcy felt when she looked at Jane was somewhere between a sense of indifference and one of satisfaction. The task had been completed and all was well, but Darcy was no longer needed. It was a little like falling out of love.

Under other circumstances, the realization might have stung, but other considerations applied and, under the circumstances, the clarity of the knowledge merely drove home to Darcy the reality of her own powers. There had been a need in Jane, one that Darcy had never known how to describe. That need had been fulfilled and Darcy could tell both that Jane was no longer mortal -- changed by the incident as the rest of them had been changed -- and that this alteration satisfied the need.

Apparently Darcy had been responsible for keeping Jane from dying. Good to know.

The thing was, accepting that meant that this was real and Darcy didn't know if she could.

Maybe it would be better to lie back down, close her eyes and wait for reality to reset itself again?

She laid back down and put her hand across her eyes. To no one at all, or the universe in general, she said, "I'm gonna need a minute. You all go on without me."


	4. Yet another reset

Darcy figured that once she let everyone know that reality was unstable, she'd get time to rest. What was the point of doing anything if the universe was resetting itself every five minutes? Especially if she was the only one who could remember the resets?

Hah. As if.

Mortal or immortal -- and none of them were mortal anymore as Jarvis had helpfully confirmed -- Jane and Tony remained scientists and they wanted data. All. The. Data. Never mind that they might not remember any of it.

On the other hand, it'd been two hours now, which was the longest any universe had lasted, so there was a good chance that this was the real deal, but still. Priorities, people.

Darcy just wished they'd all shut up and leave her alone.

"Darcy, did you get that?" Jane demanded, breaking into Darcy's reverie.

"Yup. Doohickey Barney measures radiation, but you don't know what kind or how."

"That's not what I said--"

Darcy rolled her eyes. "I skipped the list of everything you tried to make it to work, but I can read that back to you if you want. I really am listening, Jane."

"Oh. All right then," Jane said, mollified. "I'm just worried. Thor hasn't woken up yet. Shouldn't he have woken up by now?"

"He'll wake up when he wakes up. If we reset again, that could be a while."

"I know." Jane sighed.

"Short Stack! Get over here!"

"*My* assistant!" Jane hissed.

"Uh-uh," Tony retorted. "Only Lewis remembers anything that happens, so I need her to keep a record of what we discover."

"She *is* keeping a record…"

"--And by 'we', I mean 'me'."

Yeah. Things had not been going well. Darcy was starting to feel like a ping pong ball. "Not a toy, guys. What'd you need me to write down, Tony?" Not that a written record would survive one of the universe shifts, but writing things down helped Darcy to remember them. That both scientists expected her to remember everything regardless was beyond question.

"Jarvis is the bifrost!"

"Jarvis is the what now?"

"The elevator in the tower is now the rainbow bridge! Isn't it great?" Tony turned his face to the ceiling, babbling happily away, "And you get reception from everywhere now, right, J?"

"Yes, sir. As far as I can ascertain, I am able to view any location in the universe."

"So Jarvis is Heimdall is what you're saying?" Darcy asked, making a note of that. "How does that make him the bifrost? Heimdall runs it; it isn't part of him."

"That's the really cool part. I'm so brilliant, I amaze myself. Get this, back in the real world, I put some of my awesome self-invented element, Starkonium -- patent pending -- in the elevator. Okay, I admit it, it was an ego thing. No real need for it. But here! Every floor of the tower is now a different bifrost destination! Isn't that amazing?"

"So no more tower?" Darcy wrinkled her nose. "Oh, wait, I remember something about this from one of the earlier universes. We're not on Earth right now. We're on a moon."

"That's no moon. It's a space station!" Tony shouted gleefully.

"Pretty sure it's a moon, dude."

"No, it's Tonygard," Wade chipped in as he waltzed past with a blow-up doll that he had produced from who knows where. "I keep telling you people these things and you keep not listening. If I were a lesser person, I might even be aggravated. Fortunately Matilda here is a cunning linguist."

"Where is Tonygard exactly?" Darcy asked. It sounded familiar.

Wade waved a hand to indicate the area around them. "It's everywhere you want to be! Literally, 'cause of the bifrost, y'know. Congratulations! Stark Tower is now a realm of its own! I feel like we need cigars for this. Tilda, dahling, do you know where I could find some cigars?"

"My own realm. I like it," Tony said. "Not too fond of the name though. It lacks a certain something. Maybe Starkheim?"

"You want to name your realm after your father?" Darcy asked dubiously.

"Yeah, on second thought, I don't like that name either. Strike it, delete it. Irongard? Ironheim?"

"Darcy," Jane called before Darcy could become helplessly embroiled in the stupid. "I need you over here."

So yeah. If everyone could just fuck off and die, that would be great. Darcy sighed and trudged back to Jane. "Yeah, boss lady? Bear in mind nothing you find out now might be true when we reset next."

"Even better! The ideas we can get for different kinds of instruments! The perspective alone…"

Darcy tuned out. She could tell that meant not only 'no, I won't stop', but 'no, I won't stop until I've passed out from exhaustion'. There was no arguing with Science. Much as it would be nice sometimes.

You would think finding yourself in an unexpectedly magical version of your universe would be fun. You would be wrong.

The next time they reset, Darcy was doing things differently.


	5. Wade on Hard Resets

(Note from Deadpool: 

See, I have a new definition for "bad" in my vocabulary now. A la Ghostbusters. Think "hard reset", only instead of your computer, it's your universe.

And all of a sudden, you can see a whole lot more than you ever could before. Like the future death date of every living thing.

Then imagine that you had a soulmate, the love of your life, only they died tragically and it was your fault and the end credits sequence where you got her back was the kind of typical dream sequence common to Deadpool comic book appearances where Wade gets everything he wants shortly before getting assraped by monkey farts. Or something like that.

Anyway. So when you see someone living who really shouldn't be (and maybe have an itsy bitsy teensy weensy bit of a freak-out) you totally lose it and hose a god when you realize that a certain somebody's heart isn't beating in this universe when it WAS in the last one, so you figure, hey, why not, worked once, let's try again, so you keep killing him til you realize that someone you actually almost kind of care about also notices and is losing her mind and then you have to choose -- feed Thor the blue pill or Darcy the red?

So don't kayo gods in the middle of interdimensional portals, okay, that's all I'm saying? Fun safety tip, kids.)

Wade isn't afraid of death. If anything, he's in love with her. Engaged to, in a polyamorous kind of way. Passionately rendezvousing on a consistently intimate basis whenever he manages to stay dead long enough to sojourn on the otherly plane where Death can commonly be found. It's not like Wade *expects* Death to be waiting around for him. Death's a busy lady. She works *hard* for her money. Oh, yeah. Soooo hard. Yeah. Ahem. Back to the narrative. Away from the sack of bones in black leather who can do me any time… Yeah, so no, I'm *flattered* that Death deigns to spend time with me. Honored. Charmed and enamoured even. See the 'u'? That makes it British and thus uber charming. I would know. I've killed guys from there.

But Wade is also, in the words of a famous (un)dead-Brit, love's bitch. And… well, now he knows that there's a chance that somewhere his very special someone is still alive, and he also knows where to find a dimensional portal, so he can (temporarily) sacrifice his happiness in the knowledge that somewhere out there, Bea Arthur is still alive. Because he knows he can get there, someday!

Wade skipped off, presumably to do so among daisies in the company of rainbows, rather than in the manner of one evading pursuit in a dine-and-dash.


	6. The universe at the end of the rainbow

The universe steadied itself. He could think and remember once again.

"What happened?" Tony asked. He immediately felt ashamed of himself for having come up with such a lame question, but before he could redeem himself by adding a quip, Dr. Foster's well-endowed former intern and his own sometime babysitter was shaking a finger in his face.

"Nuh-uh-uh!" the brunette told him firmly. "No questions."

"But…"

"No questions!" She looked a little wild-eyed. "You and Jane with your questions, I swear. You haven't learned anything useful the whole time we've been stuck like this and I. Have. Had. Enough. Do you understand me?"

"Kind of? The words that are coming out of your mouth are in English, but the way that you've arranged them is unfamiliar to me." He took stock of his physical body. He was sitting on the floor. He recognized the room. Foster's laboratory. Looking like something out of a fantasy film this time, a warlock's lair. How did he get there? What all had happened? And could he make it happen again, preferably with a bigger boom this time?

"Then I'll use little words. Help Clint pick Thor up so we can drag him into the hall and down to what used to be the elevator."

"If it used to be an elevator, then what is it now?" Tony wondered.

"Nope, no questions. Grab an arm or a leg and start dragging."

He raked his hand through his hair -- finding rather more of it there than he expected it -- and looked for Thor. Sure enough the Norse god was passed out on the floor. Standing over him was--

Tony bit his lip. Okay. This was priceless. Utterly priceless. He *had* to say something. Even though Darcy was going to do something to him if he did, but he simply couldn't help it.

"Can I ask about the elf ears?"

Darcy death glared him and Tony mimed zipping his lips closed. Still. Clint. Pointed ears. Nah. He couldn't hold back. "Anyone else feeling hungry? I'm getting a craving for some cookies."

Clint was still somewhat concussed, as he tended to be in the majority of the resets. It made him grumpy. "Fuck off. At least I'm not wearing a crown."

"And why isn't Barnes helping out? Put those supersoldier muscles to good use." Sometimes It was like Tony heard people tell him not to do things and then something in him compelled him to do the exact opposite. Just to see what would happen.

"Because we don't want Thor's arm to freeze off," Darcy said. She tapped her foot as she held the door open for them. "Jane! Stop cuddling Barney! He measures radiation. You can figure out what kind later."

Jane guiltily let go of the green and purple device she'd been holding. Tony would have loved to get a better look at it, but Thor was heavy. "I wasn't touching anything!" She walked past him to Darcy. "You didn't explain why we're not waiting for Thor to wake up on his own either."

"And I'm not going to. When I give you time to argue, bad things happen." She strode off before Tony could inquire about what kind of bad things. Because there was bad and then there was fun bad. But no, Shortstack was booking it.

Once outside the room, Darcy shepherded them down the hall to an set of gleaming doors, which opened on their own as she approached.

"Thanks, Jarvis," Darcy said. She stood back and waited for the others to board.

Tony… recognized the décor. "Is this the tower's elevator?" Tony asked, fascinated. His fingers itched to touch. If he hadn't been holding Thor's feet, he would have made grabby hands at the walls. "It is, isn't it?"

"Yes," Darcy told him. She waited for Jane to join them, then nodded to someone out of sight. "Okay, guys. Time to go. All aboard."

Immediately all space in the erstwhile elevator seemed to disappear as the personification of cold and death joined them, coming to the doors. As it entered, the abyss reached out to swallow Tony.

The abyss, he noted, had bony hands. Since when did the abyss have hands?

"Why, yes, indeedy, they are actual bone!" a cheery voice told him. "Which is interesting, because my boner isn't, which makes it difficult to achieve penetration if you know what I mean."

"Let me die," slipped from Tony's lips. This was worse than hallucinations of the Chitauri fleet.

"Send us to Asgard, J-man," Darcy said. "Before Tony has an aneurysm."

"Yes, Miss Lewis."

The void swimming around him lit up in rainbow colors. He clutched desperately at them, at the substance they represented after the nothing of before. He automatically began tracking the patterns the colors made, which brought Tony's mind back to a more stable footing even as they all merged into white.

Beautiful.


	7. A Hawk's Eyeview

Later, much later, when anyone would discuss The Thing with The Thing, one topic would come up over and over, which was, why didn't anyone say anything when they realized what was going on?

Darcy, being Darcy, had told her version of the story multiple times in the course of blackmailing Jane into taking better care of herself (and Tony, too, but mostly only because it was fun, not *for* anything). 

Clint however genuinely had a concussion when he woke up. So he would like everyone to know that the fact that he didn't tell anyone that he remembered everything -- and "everything" was batshit crazy* -- was because he's had concussions before and he has a scar from the time when he told a certain someone something he'd thought had happened (which actually didn't) and he didn't really *need* any more scars, thank you.

And NOT because he was an emotionally retarded boogerface like the rest of his team mates, so there.

(No, of course he didn't mean Jane. Don't you think he's proven he's not stupid?)

(…um. Nevermind.)

*Batshit crazy in the sense of absolutely AWESOME!


	8. A Mechanical Heart

Tony woke up.

Jarvis said, "Good morning, sir. It is 2:33 p.m. on the Stark Realizement, in orbit around Deimos. The temperature is 68 degrees Fahrenheit and all alerts are green."

In his head.

Then 'he' was THEY: Tony and all of the data was Jarvis and all of the personality too. He… had absorbed the Mind stone into the arc reactor…? By diving in front of Thanos at exactly the right moment? And rendered himself immortal? And became Tony and Vision and the Mind stone itself?

No. That, yes, but something else.

The data reordered itself. Rewrote itself into a different computer language, one he'd never seen before. But Tony now spoke Code as his mother tongue. Some of the concepts were new, but he quickly assimilated the replacements as an upgrade…

And no. He was someone else again. He was the controller, the literal "brain in a jar" interface between an artificial intelligence and a starship body.

The change in perspective between a physical body and a brain housed in a mechanical body, the human component in a triumvirate that shocked his senses. His senses were so different than before: his metal skin could *feel* Space all around him and his brain supplied second hand information from the AI of the knowledge of where they were in the universe, and that it was much much further from everything than he had ever wanted to be and he was in the black and the Abyss and there was nothing but void…

And, so, well, when he woke up and didn't have Jarvis in his actual head anymore, he'd had a hard time understanding English again.

It was several googleplex out of date. If he was understanding the units system correctly. Couldn't these people even agree on a single naming system for measurement in the same language??

Then he was alone in his brain and human -- well, humanish, and…

Yeah, fuck it. He had nothing.


	9. A Hawk's Eyeview Redux

So, okay, it was TOTALLY awesome. I was like deaf, but Stark'd been playing with some prosthetic brain connection thing 'cause of like the Winter Soldier and a zombie arm?

Anyway.

That gave me back my hearing. But instead of amplifying the sound, it translated the noise directly into something the brain could understand.

I already knew about that. I was perfectly fine with being deaf. I can lip read a guy with a full beard and a mustache. AND also a muppet. Which? Given that and that a comm is a souped up hearing aid that just happens to also give you targeting advice? As long as I'm not completely deaf, I'm not disabled as a sniper. Totally field capable.

Then something happens. I don't remember it. Concussion, remember? The one I got stabbed after? That one? Yeah, that was this one.

So. Bright lights. Angels. Devils. Using a bow while flying is. The Awesomest. Thing. Ever!!! … Um? It sounded kinda cool when they told me about it later. Not so much on film though. Unless you watch the edited version. Without the puking. I'm *so* glad I don't remember any of that.

By the way, Nat, I *know* you're NOT an angel and even if you were, you weren't sent down from heaven to welcome me in with a kiss and celebratory sex. It was a concussion!!

So, you see? Plenty of reasons not for me to think of telling anybody anything about any of this, no matter how 'relevant and important mission-critical information' is, hypocrites.

Anyway, there was a bright light and then I didn't see anything again. Ever. (Aww, color. I miss you so much.)

A deaf sniper is one thing. A blind one?

Well. I didn't manage to kill myself. My therapist says that's progress, putting it that way. I dunno. Life sucked, okay? For a lot of people, not just me.

Long story short, I ran into the strangest guy you'll ever meet (heh!) and went off to Asia to become a magical monk. That didn't go so well. Too much reading on handbound (?!) books if you wanted to get very far. Supposedly, if I spent long enough on it, I could eventually learn to read the ink with my fingertips, but, y'know, calluses.

So nada on the magic route. Ended up back in New York. Things were pretty desperate -- the villains had somehow gotten themselves all in charge. Some political bullshit. Stark contacted me; he was bankrolling a resistance movement. Didn't have time to do tech in between that and having to pretend to be one of the villains. Had to keep it simple, but most of all, stealthy. S'why he put adding an archer to the team over a regular sniper. Thank Thor. I liked being able to lounge around and order pizza, even if I was basically Strange's janitor, but I was bored. Out of my fucking mind.

What had he come up with? He'd adapted the brainworm slash hearing aid he'd invented back in the long long ago and modified it so it also took input from the eyes. Because it wasn't my eyes that were damaged -- they were fine. But my brain couldn't understand the input anymore. I guess they thought that part was permanently dead? I stopped listening. Blah blah blah blind. Blah blah blah might as well kill himself now. Y'know.

The first version was… interesting. I said Stark didn't have much time to work on things? He didn't. It mapped objects into… I guess you could call it a mathmetical grid? Kinda like Tron, only not in color. So still no reading books, but computer enhanced, like a really advanced video game? And it let him hear again, something he'd let go when he'd ran off to become a badass wizard. Only with a ring. Like Frodo.

So everyone *thought* I was blind and deaf, but really I had super advanced targeting. Facial recognition, not so great, not at first. But I was back, baby! And twenty percent cooler!

Anyway.

What do you mean, Thor will take less time to listen to and probably be more interesting than me? Fine. Be that way. You'll never get to hear the REALLY awesome parts. Wait!! Wait for me.

But seriously. It was awesome.


	10. Chapter 10

Alas, I must tell you once again, my friends, that I fell victim to that foul and most insidious of enemies, my own pride.

I felt my father's death at once. How could I not? For with his death, the universe was remade around me.

Though I had not known it, my father had not lost his eye in battle, but had sacrificed it at Mimir's well, then hung himself on Yggdrasil, remaining there for six days until the ravens, Huginn and Muninn, Thought and Memory, brought him a gift from the universe.

The same gift that I now inherited.

In a way, it was a gift of knowledge.

In another, it proved to me that Loki had been right all along. Not about destroying Jotunheim or invading Midgard, nay. But about Odin. About his greed and lust for power.

What I saw then… I cannot speak of.

I was bound to Yggdrasil and my very self was dragged out and the universe remade to my fickle whims. I knew not that this was happening, but it occurred nonetheless and all the more haphazardly for my unawareness of its occurrence. At the same time, the world tree revealed to me my father's machinations, the number of times he had arranged all of our lives to his design, planning his death so that his heir would, all without knowing, die and recreate a world with Odin at its center as unchallenged ruler of a golden realm for all of his days.

Then the titan came.

I will not speak of that cursed time, repeating the past only to die again. I only know that when I awoke here, the yoke had been lifted from my neck. I do not know how it is so or how it is that I remember, but the binding has passed to another and I am grateful for it.

Thus my pride forbid me speak, for I would not have you pity me for my weakness nor scorn me for my arrogance in assuming that only I knew of these experiences.

Forgive me, my friends.

(Darcy: "Thor. You spent the entire time unconscious. You don't need an excuse."

Thor: "The Man of Iron requested…"

Darcy: [holding up a hand] "Say no more.")


	11. Jane's side of things

Jane liked to be able to explain things. And if she couldn't explain them, she liked to document them and analyze them so that she could understand them. And then rule the universe.

So when she couldn't explain what had happened and she didn't have any data, she'd been preoccupied with *finding* data and, well, all of her equipment had disappeared and, well, you know how she feels about that after New Mexico…

Er. Yes. And maybe she did need more sleep.


End file.
